This project is one of several projects which have been carried out in a variety of cultural settings in order to obtain a comparative picture of socioeconomic determinants of fertility and the intervening factors which influence these determinants. This study will investigate reproductive and contraceptive patterns in two socioeconomically heterogeneous neighborhoods in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and the rationale and motives underlying decisions to have children or utilize contraception. In particular, the study will investigate the cost and value of children to parents of differing socioeconomic and urban status at different stages of the family life cycle, and examine the relationship of this to social, cultural and economic factors and to reproductive and contraceptive behavior. This is a comparative study. The findings will be taken along with the findings of past and future studies to add to the understanding of factors which influence the timing, spacing and number of children couples have and to understand to some extent the consequences of various family sizes and configurations for the families involved in various cultural settings.